Obama to focus on Middle East in U.N. speech

9/20/13 4:11 PM EDT

President Obama will hold three bilateral summits during his trip to New York for the United Nations General Assembly next week: with President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria on Monday, and Presidents Michel Suleiman of Lebanon and Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority on Tuesday.

That focus on the Middle East will also carry through to the president’s speech to the General Assembly Tuesday morning, which will be focused on Syria, Iran, the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and the region overall, in “an update of America’s approach, how we see our interests, how we prioritize our policies going forward,” deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes told reporters Friday afternoon.

Rhodes said no meeting is so far scheduled with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, despite growing speculation of at least an informal meeting with Obama.

“We don’t have a meeting scheduled with President Rouhani, but we’re always open to diplomacy if it can meet our objectives,” Rhodes said, adding that he also couldn’t speak to lower-level meetings that might happen between American and Iranian representatives next week.

“It’s possible that there could be some interaction at different levels, but there’s simply none planned,” Rhodes said. "I can’t predict every interaction that might take place.”